Watching Dominick Cruz pushed UFC on FOX 8's John Moraga to next level

SEATTLE – John Moraga knew he had what it takes to be a champion some day.

But he also knew he was going in a direction that needed him to take a push to the next level. Moraga knew he was underachieving, and it took a visit to a UFC champion’s training camp to realize what he needed to do to get to take things up a notch.

Moraga (13-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) on Saturday challenges Demetrious Johnson (17-2-1 MMA, 5-1-1 UFC) in the main event of UFC on FOX 8 for Johnson’s flyweight title. And he may have Dominick Cruz to thank for helping him get there.

UFC on FOX 8 takes place at KeyArena in Seattle with a main card on FOX after prelims on FX and Facebook.

“I got into this sport thinking this was possible,” Moraga told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “I was confident. I don’t want to say I knew for sure, but I knew it was possible. I had seen other people get to the top and I knew the only thing missing was because I had outside distractions and I didn’t give it my all. I went all in for MMA. I saw the sacrifices I didn’t make before. I made those sacrifices this time around and it’ll pay off.”

Coincidentally, it was seeing the way Dominick Cruz prepared for his fight against Johnson nearly two years ago that made him realize he should up his game.

“The final push was when I went to Dominick Cruz’s training camp against Demetrious,” he said. “I saw a few things he was doing that I wasn’t doing, and how he went the extra miles. Dom’s a beast. That opened my eyes right there and I really tightened up everything and got on it.”

With just two fights in the UFC and a seven-fight win streak, Moraga might be one the least-known UFC title challengers in history.

His first fight in the promotion, a knockout of Ulysses Gomez, opened up the preliminary card of UFC on FOX 4 nearly a year ago. And his submission of Chris Cariaso at UFC 155 in December was a curtain-jerker, as well.

So he’ll go from two fights that opened prelims to the main event on FOX – fighting for a title. He completely understands he’s a relative unknown. But he believes when he’s done with Johnson, things will change in a big way.

“Nobody knows who I am, so I’m going to gain a lot of fans in this fight,” Moraga said. “But most importantly, I’m going to win. I’m going to make it a fight. It’s going to be the toughest fight he’s ever been in – it’s going to be a real fight. I’m going to get a hold of him and I’m not going to let him run around like he does with everybody else. I’m just going to play my game and not play his game.”

If it’s fans Moraga wants – as well as another win and a UFC title to help continue changing his fortunes, he’ll have to do it in enemy territory since Johnson lives and trains near Seattle.

But having Johnson be the fan favorite won’t bother him, he said.

“It’ll make it sweeter,” Moraga said. “I don’t know if it adds to the challenge. In the cage, it’s just me and him anyway. In the cage, I don’t even hear the crowd. I’m an amateur wrestler, so I’ve been to tournaments, I’ve been on the national stage. You kind of zone out. I’m in my zone and I don’t hear anything. I hear my coaches, just because I’m used to hearing them. But other than that, it’s not going to bother me at all. I don’t even see anybody when I’m coming to the walkout.”

And it’s that level of tunnel vision Moraga is hoping keeps him on his surge, right to UFC gold.

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